Communications

This is a request under Florida's Sunshine Law (Fla. Stat. secs. 119.01 to 119.15 (1995)) for certain firearms records held by the Tenth Judicial Circuit (the Circuit) of Florida.

It is our understanding that when a law enforcement agency in the Circuit’s jurisdiction wishes to dispose, sell or otherwise transfer firearms under the agency’s custody, the agency first submits a transfer request to the Circuit. That request, sometimes called a “Firearms List for Transfer,” is essentially a list that includes the make, model, caliber and serial number of each firearm, along with the case number associated with each firearm. We obtained one such request from the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office and attached it to this request for your reference.

Once the Circuit receives such a request, it reviews the relevant case files and issues a determination on whether it is appropriate for each of the firearms to be transferred.

Therefore, we are asking for access to and copies of the following records:

Part 1) Every firearms transfer request submitted to the Circuit from Jan. 1, 2013 through June 1, 2017.

Part 2) Every determination rendered by the Circuit on each of the firearms transfer requests released in response to Part 1.

I am a reporter with The Trace, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization headquartered in New York, New York. I am making this request through MuckRock’s public records management service, which we use to file and track public records requests.

As a member of the news media, I will be making information obtained from this request available to the general public; I am not seeking it for commercial purposes.

If there are charges associated with this request, I respectfully ask to be made aware of the estimated costs before my request is completed.

I prefer the requested documents be sent electronically, by email attachment if available, or CD-ROM if not. If standard mail must be used for the release of any records or correspondence, please send to the following address:

The TraceAttn: Brian Freskos428 Broadway, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10013

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me on my cell phone: (919) 522-6354.

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this request. Sincerely, Brian Freskos

Please be advised that the recipient of your public records request, Mr. Julie Nelson, is not an employee of the Office of the State Attorney. She works in the Administrative Office of the Courts. I am the Trial Court Administrator for the Tenth Circuit and report to you that this court has no such records of any possession or sale or other distribution of firearms. You may wish to inquire to the Office of the State Attorney or the Polk County Sheriff's Department.